Zippers are a useful invention and are widely used The everyday zipper is predominantly used by sliding a zipper head, on one fabric piece, down to the top of a socket box. A second pin located on another fabric piece is threaded through the small opening of the zipper head and into the socket box. This positions the second pin next to a first pin permanently affixed inside the socket box. Above each pin, and attached to a woven fabric strip on each fabric piece, are a series of engaging zipper teeth which are designed to intermesh with each other when one pulls up the zipper head.
This process requires precision, relative stillness of a person, good eyesight, eye-hand coordination, and dexterity. A common problem of initial coupling is misalignment of the second pin when it is not pushed all the way down through the sliding zipper head and into the lower socket. Premature separation of the sliding zipper head from the socket box makes coupling difficult. Trying to find the narrow opening for the second pin, aligning the entrances of the sliding zipper head and socket box and threading it at night, or even in the daylight, are difficult and frustrating tasks for many users.
Any and all of us at one time or another, especially persons in a hurry, the elderly, those with arthritis, feebleness, poor or no vision, or persons with disabilities and their care givers almost always have difficulty coupling a zipper. In addition, sportsmen and women, such as skiers, gardeners, or any persons using gloves at recreational activities or their occupations, including firefighters, emergency medical technicians and astronauts, or those who are wearing winter apparel have had difficulty. Very young children who have not mastered the art of fine motor skills find it very difficult to couple a zipper. Pre-school teachers often have to shorten their classes in the winter in order to line up the children and zip their jackets so they stay warm during their ride home.
Quality jackets are often handed down, especially to children. Although a very welcome gesture from thoughtful family and friends, these jackets often present a problem. While the jacket may seem quite new and in very good condition, upon further inspection (usually through attempted use), the jacket cannot be worn or at least for very long because the zipper is worn (usually frayed at the end). If it works at all, coupling the zipper is very frustrating to the child or parent. This is because zippers are not as durable as the garment to which they are attached.
A skilled tailor or seamstress can replace a zipper on an unlined jacket without great difficulty, but they find it is extremely difficult to replace one on a lined winter jacket. During manufacture, the zipper is usually put on before the garment is lined and before it is turned right side out and the waistband put on. What is usually worn and frayed is a slightly stiffened tape or woven fabric on a second coupling strip immediately outside the second pin. This part wears because it is the first thing to come in contact with the hardware, i.e., the zipper head and socket box. Its repeated use causes the stiffened tape or fabric to soften and fray. The breakdown of this small area usually causes an otherwise suitable jacket to have to be permanently discarded.
Designers have addressed the problem of difficulty in the alignment and initial coupling of zippers, especially for children and their lack of fine motor skills, but seemingly has only substituted one difficulty for another.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,927 to Heimberger (1979) shows a small circular plug and socket used to make the proper alignment, but this arrangement also needs a fair amount of stillness, keen eyesight, and dexterity to complete its operation. Also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,272,793 (1993) and 5,396,685 to Wilk (1995) show a small ball-and-socket snap for primary alignment The zippers of these two patents, also, like the everyday zipper in use now, leave the woven fabric edges of the coupling strip unprotected or only slightly so. Thus they are vulnerable to being worn away before the article of manufacture wears out. Also they use a small snap which small children, the feeble, the sight impaired, and those in a hurry will have trouble aligning as well.
In the arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,026 to Kanzaka (1980), a small stud pin is inserted into a precise guide channel. This channel also has a very small aperture, requiring good dexterity, eye-hand coordination, and fine motor skills, which the aforementioned may not have. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,362 to Gillioz (1994) shows a slider used in much the same way as the above pin, being guided down into a narrow channel, requiring stillness of hand, good eyesight, and dexterity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,145 to Kim (1991) shows an end-locking device for slide fasteners to free the hands and to prevent unintentional disengagement of the zipper after the zipper is fastened. None of the members of this zipper are integrated for any purpose, nor is arresting the movement of the slider suggested. The slider is not intentionally aligned with the socket member to arrest movement of the slider. This zipper cannot be coupled laterally.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,849 to Fudaki (1995) discloses a separable bottom end stop assembly for a concealed slide fastener, "in which a socket member is attached to one stringer after the stringer is sewn to a garment so that the socket member would not interfere with the sewing, . . . Fudaki projection engages the slider body in order to pull up and actively move the socket member into a desired position. Fudaki's projection does not arrest horizontal movement of the slider body but actively moves the socket member. This zipper cannot be coupled laterally.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,952 to Wilder (1997) shows a laterally coupled zipper. Wilder's sliding zipper head and the socket member below it are not integrated in any way, making coupling awkward and uneven when coupled laterally, since the sliding zipper head is free to move sideways and upwards during coupling. The bottom of the zipper head is especially free to move from side to side and will not properly and consistently align itself when pushed upon laterally.
Also, a considerable amount of force is needed to snap-lock the end connector, and displace the resilient socket member, since a socket member should be a sturdy part of the zipper to hold the zipper together. This can be difficult for children and the elderly. This amount of force may cause a twist motion and cause the user to have to compensate for a difference in aligning the members along the same plane again, should the nose element hit the entrance off-center or if the nose element should hit the outer edge of the socket member entrance. There is no guiding apparatus for the user to easily find the small entrance of the socket member for initial coupling. The area to be held during coupling is not large enough for little fingers, big fingers, feeble fingers, or those in motion to easily displace the socket member for lateral coupling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,482 to Oda (1995) discloses a terminal latch member for closing the terminal end of a zipper. The terminal latch locks the upper end of the zipper and allows the slider to be slid off the fastener rows leaving the fastener rows locked. A similar U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,002 to Ishihara et al. (1997) discloses a split arrester also attached to the terminal end of the zipper for preventing the accidental splitting a pair of fasteners stringers when the slider is removed beyond the terminal end. These two patents do not teach any methods of integration or have any integrated parts. Their zipper sliders are purposefully removed from the fastener rows, illustrating methods that distinctly contrast the teachings of the following disclosed invention. These two zippers cannot be coupled laterally.
The arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,370, also to Fudaki (1996) shows a separable bottom stop assembly that can be added to the opposed stringers after the stringers have been sewn in place on a garment and the slider has been put on, for the purpose of making the attachment of the stringers to the garment easier. This patent does not integrate any members of the zipper, nor is any movement of the members arrested from integration to promote easy coupling. This zipper cannot be coupled laterally.
Potin discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,718 (1973) a process for the manufacture of a slide fastener where the female piece or housing is manufactured separately and affixed to the supporting tape at a later time. This process does not arrest any movement or provide immovable alignment of a sliding zipper member. This zipper cannot be coupled laterally.